March 1, the twelfth year of Tenmon (1543), Setsu Province, Ishiyama Gobo Castle Town.
Under the secret protection of ninjas such as Tsuchi Atonsune, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Ginkgo swaggered to the Ishiyama Gobo for a visit. Also coming with them was Takeda Harunobu, who wanted to survey the terrain and military appearance of the place.
When talking about Ishiyama Gobo, we have to mention the most unique Buddhism of the Warring States Period in Japan - Jodo Shinshu, also known as Honganji Temple and Ichijo Buddhism. It emerged during the Muromachi Shogunate period and is famous for its approachable precepts - no tonsure is required.
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There is no need to fast, drink alcohol, eat meat, marry a wife and have children, just say "Amitabha" and you can be reborn in the Pure Land. Because this commandment is simple and easy to implement, for poor people with no education and conditions, it is better than those orthodox sects with strict commandments.
It was much more attractive, so Jodo Shinshu also attracted a large number of believers from all over the country.
Japan has always had a tradition of supporting soldiers in temples.
Since the Heian period, monk soldiers have also been a headache for the court and samurai - so much so that Emperor Shirakawa once lamented: "There are three things that are unsatisfactory in the world: the water of Kamogawa, the sieve of backgammon, and the monk soldiers."
"Although Jodo Shinshu has completely abandoned the precepts of traditional Japanese Buddhism, it has carried forward the issue of supporting troops - the military strength it maintains far exceeds the scope of ordinary Buddhist temples, and even exceeds the number of mobilizations of ordinary daimyo.
Although the number of monks and soldiers in Honganji Temple is not large, it has an astronomical number of believers. Whenever a war is needed, the monk or boss will issue a mobilization order, and the believers who receive the order will pick up hoes and poles.
A mighty army gathered at the temple of Jodo Shinshu, fought for Honganji, and submerged the enemy in the ocean. The believers believed in the propaganda of the doctrine: as long as they die fighting for Jodo Shinshu, they can be reborn in the Pure Land. This
This kind of mobilization and tactics has also been called "Yi Yi Kui" by the world.
Relying on its consistent power and the appeal of Jodo Shinshu, Honganji Temple successively established spheres of influence independent of traditional samurai in places such as Kaga's Oyama Palace, Settsu's Ishiyama Palace, and Owari's Nagashima Castle.
The people collected taxes and enjoyed administrative and judicial powers - as if they were transformed from a religious power into a daimyo.
Such behavior was naturally not tolerated by the Japanese samurai at first. Daimyos from all over the country launched conquests against it, but were defeated time and time again by the overwhelming sea of people. Not to mention the frontal battlefield.
If the abbot of Honganji Temple raises his arms, even the believers in the daimyo territory will immediately launch a riot, causing you to be in trouble. Countless famous generals have been defeated, and even many guardian-level samurai died in the battle, which also made the world angry.
He looked sideways and did not dare to use force rashly against Honganji again.
Ishiyama Gobo is the capital city of Honganji Temple in Japan, and is also the place where Honganji Buddhist monks, Honganji, are located. It is also a holy place in the eyes of believers all over the world. In the castle town of Ishiyama Gobo and the surrounding temples and villages, there are nearly ten temples and villages.
Thousands of Jodo Shinshu followers were readily prepared to sacrifice for their master. Therefore, even though Ishiyama Gobo blocked Kinki's important seaport, and even though Ishiyama Gobo's geographical location was extremely critical, the daimyo of Kinki did not dare to operate on it.
The Hosokawa family, the Hosokawa family's retainers the Kizawa family, and the Miyoshi family are all afraid of getting into trouble and repeating the same mistake as Miyoshi Gencho who was forced to death by Ichiki Ichi.
Under several influences, Settsu's Ishiyama Gobo became a public house. Kinki, a veritable "foreign country" where the samurai's strength was complex, nurtured a completely different culture and customs - the kind that Imagawa Yoshimoto hated deeply.
"Amitabha, I'm starting! Cheers!"
In the temple next to the castle town,
Imagawa Yoshimoto and the others were resting here to have a meal. But on the porch not far from them,
Sitting around the temple were eight monks from the Yixiang Sect. Three of them had been ordained.
Two of them had shaved hair, and the remaining three had no sign of having shaved their hair. They sat around eating together, mixing Buddhist names and honorifics into unrelated slogans, clinking glasses in celebration - yes, the glasses were full of wine.
It was wine. It seemed that today was some kind of local festival, so they took out the good things they had been reluctant to eat all year long and planned to have a feast.
In addition to pickles, pickled fish and rice, the good things on their tables also include meat——
beef.
beef.
beef.
Imagawa Yoshimoto felt uncomfortable all over, and had to turn his head towards the direction of the window, keeping his eyes out of sight - it was best not to smell the smell of beef with his nose. This is not just as simple as a monk breaking the precepts and eating meat, right?
This is a meat ban! The first among cows, horses, dogs, monkeys and chickens - cows!
What are you doing? - Imagawa Yoshimoto's whole person was in confusion, and he could not stop shouting quietly in his heart: No, I don't want that kind of thing!
"Yeah, there's beef here?" Ginkgo noticed that Yoshimoto Imagawa's picky eating habit had relapsed, and he deliberately said in an artificial tone to the novice monk who was serving the dish.
"It's a festival. It happened that an old cow slipped and fell to death yesterday, so I killed it and ate it!" The black-haired novice monk replied with a smile, "Would you like some, too, for the three guests?"
"No! Definitely don't!" "Okay!" "Go ahead, go ahead!"
Imagawa Yoshimoto, Ginkgo, and Takeda Harunobu replied in unison.
"Please!" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at Takeda Harunobu and Ginkgo with pleading eyes - the two people who were familiar with Imagawa Yoshimoto knew that Imagawa Yoshimoto was really about to give in at this moment. Takeda Harunobu was a murderer who did not blink an eye and had a heart of stone.
The man was moved by Imagawa Yoshimoto's pitiful eyes for a moment, and he wanted to give up for a moment, but Ginkgo said reluctantly: "Young master, you can come, we have enough money!"
"Okay!" After hearing this, the little novice monk immediately ran back to the kitchen with a smile, leaving behind Yoshimoto Imagawa with a black line on his face, Ginkgo with a smile, and Harunobu Takeda, the Tiger of Kai, who was sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight.
"No!" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his hand, blocked it in front of his and Ginkgo's faces very resolutely, and said solemnly: "I really don't know how to eat, I won't eat even if I kill you, what kind of game are you playing?
I don’t even know how to eat it. Chicken is already my limit! The limit of sin that I don’t want to look back on! But this is beef! Why don’t I just eat human flesh!”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Sir, if you eat it, I will accompany you in that position when I get back." Ginkgo then smiled charmingly and tried to seduce Imagawa Yoshimoto into submission with her beauty.
"No!" But this time Imagawa Yoshimoto refused extremely decisively, and quickly made an "X" with his hands in front of him.
"Oh? You don't want any of this?" Ginkgo was also in trouble, but she didn't expect that this condition would be rejected - that was the position that Imagawa Yoshimoto had dreamed of but was rejected by Ginkgo many times.
"Actually, there's nothing wrong with beef. Just eat it." Takeda Harunobu is still keen on doing Imagawa Yoshimoto's ideological work. "It tastes good, but it's a bit old and hard to chew. And you'll grow taller after eating it. One meal is the best."
Dun. On weekdays, cows are taken to the fields, so how can they be killed for you to eat? It’s a rare occasion, why don’t you cherish it?"
"I won't eat it even if I die." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked sideways at Takeda Harunobu with determination - which made Takeda Harunobu feel a chilling murderous aura.
"Aren't all those masters eating? I didn't see anyone dead." Ginkgo pointed at the monks of the Yixiang Sect in the corridor who were eating beef and their mouths were full of oil. "Believers are not counted. Look at the three ordained monks.
Don’t the masters who become monks also eat well?”
"Those are cheap believers who haven't practiced well. How can a master of the Tao who really cultivates eat it? Even a member of the Jodo Shinsect cannot eat the beef that is the first in the meat ban!" Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head vigorously and quickly,
Just one glance at the dining table over there made me feel so disgusted that I quickly turned my head back.
At this moment, the melodious sound of conch sounds rang out from the door of the temple. The believers who were sitting and eating meat were stunned for a moment, then stood up one after another, crowded towards the door, and then burst into violent cheers:
"Lord Dharma Master!"
"It's the Dharma Master here!"
"Master Dharma, rejoice with us!"
"Master? The master of Honganji Temple?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked up at the door with some doubts. He accidentally saw the bowl of beef again and quickly looked away. "As the master, you actually come to this unknown place in person.
Come from the small temple?”
"This is the reason why Honganji Temple can rise at the speed of light in decades and gain millions of believers." Takeda Harunobu was not careless at all, but focused on the movement at the door, "Their monks, too,
Abbots, or even high-ranking Dharma masters, are willing to personally come to the run-down countryside, walk on the muddy field ridges, and teach Buddhism to every poor person. And in your mind, Wulang, are those orthodox sects' 'masters of enlightenment'
, but only sit in a spotless Buddhist hall and talk about the Tao."
The mixed heads at the door (some with bald heads, some with hair) moved around for a while, and then they saw a young man in a khaki cassock slowly walking in. He was holding the simplest wooden rosary beads in his hand, and the cassock on his body looked very beautiful.
He looked cheap, and the wooden shoes on the soles of his feet were also shoddily made. In Suruga, even the abbot of a small temple would put on better clothes. But the believers who surrounded him did not look down on him because of his simplicity.
On the contrary, he was full of longing and smiling, and he was busy sharing anecdotes about recent days. The young man would listen patiently and respond with nods.
"The Master is certified." Takeda Harunobu narrowed his eyes and focused on him, "A great man with great appeal. There are rumors that all the people he personally persuaded to become religious converts without exception.
No one can resist his preaching. There are also rumors that the ministers in the court, whenever they meet him, will become a firm supporter of the Ichiko clan and pave the way for the development of the Ichiko clan in Kinki. They even even
I heard that there was a mortal enemy of the Yixiang Sect, an enlightened monk in the Lotus Sect, who after a discussion with the Master Zhengru, voluntarily quit the Lotus Sect and joined the Yixiang Sect. He passed away not long after."
"So young." Ginkgo also sighed with emotion.
"Finally I met a serious master." Imagawa Yoshimoto breathed a long sigh of relief, "He is definitely not the kind of person who eats beef and his mouth is full of oil."
Honganji Temple was walking, and as expected, he found the bowl of beef on the table of the believers. He turned around with some surprise and asked: "The spring plowing has just stopped, how can we kill the cattle? What will we do next year? Even if it is
The old scalper who can't do any work should remember his hard work in the past and send him to live a long life, right?"
"To the Master, this is a cow that fell and died. We couldn't bear to waste it, so we just killed it and ate it." The young novice in charge of serving food was carrying a plate of beef to Imagawa Yoshimoto's table when he happened to meet Honganji Temple.
Zhengru, quickly explained.
"Amitabha." Zhengru of Honganji Temple chanted the Buddha's name with some regret.
"This is a monk with a compassionate heart. He is completely different from those wine-meat monks who even eat beef!" Imagawa Yoshimoto praised, and then watched the little novice with great vigilance as he brought the bowl of beef to his own table.
On the table, he quickly pinched his nose with his hands and looked at Ginkgo with vigilance: "Don't let me eat it! I will never let you succeed! If Ginkgo eats this dirty beef, I won't touch it for half a month."
you!"
"Hmph, how could anyone use this matter to make things difficult for a woman?" Ginkgo turned away and scolded, "I'm afraid that the husband can't hold it in himself."
"After eating this meat, the taste in your mouth will make you sick, so how can you still be interested?" Imagawa Yoshimoto protested reluctantly: "You know how to bully me, if you have the ability, go and let that person eat meat."
Do you want to eat beef? If he eats it, I will eat it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the conversation between Zhengru of Honganji Temple and the monks could be heard from the side:
"Master, this beef is cooked very fragrantly. Would you like to take a bite?"
"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Honganji Shojo happily accepted, picked up the meat with chopsticks, and put the beef into his mouth in front of the stunned Imagawa Yoshimoto.
